so i have been keeping fresh water fish for a about 8 years and you use fish in freshwater to cycle a tank, and after the first month with fish in there you do your first water change. so ive started my first SW tank, its a 90G with 30 lbs LR and 80 lbs base rock. its been running for about just over 2 months, and about a month with some inverts in it, 15 hermits, 10 astrea snails, black spine sea urchin, red coral banded shrimp, brittle leg starfish, and a sea hair. no fish yet as im trying to be patient with the tank, i dont want to rush things and have everything die, so im wondering do you think its time for a water change, or should i wait longer so i dont screw up the tank cycling. and if so how much water should i change?
first water change when?
- Thread starter expkeeper19
- Start date
I guess it really depends. If you have really good water movement in the tank, go for 5 or less PPM of nitrate. In a SW tank, you want as close to 0 nitrates as possible or you could be in for some serious algae problems down the road.
If you are thinking about a reef tank, you want 0 nitrates.
Once you get to a acceptable level of nitrate, a 10% weekly water change should be all you need
Also, using RO water and a top quality salt may cost a little more , but it will help avoid a whole bunch of algae and water parameter realted problems. That means less maintenance work for you and more time to enjoy the tank
If you are thinking about a reef tank, you want 0 nitrates.
Once you get to a acceptable level of nitrate, a 10% weekly water change should be all you need
Also, using RO water and a top quality salt may cost a little more , but it will help avoid a whole bunch of algae and water parameter realted problems. That means less maintenance work for you and more time to enjoy the tank
Cliff519;4595945; said:
+1 on the top quality salt. No supplements should be needed for your inverts either if you do your WCs weekly and use a good brand
so is the salt im using not high quality? i did a 20g water change. and i was quite shocked at how quickly i managed to get the same salinity to the correct number in my new water, i must have lucked out.
I use instant ocean and IO reef crystals salt for my tanks.
I do not premix...but doing so definitely doesnt hurt to get things fine tuned.
I would not wait a month to do a h2o change. More like a couple weeks. I do monthly changes on a 125g tank that has less than 10" of fish in it, but those changes will become bigger and more frequent as the fish do.
There is no "cure-all" regimine for fish keeping. Water testing and changes are the only way you can find a balance that works for you and your tank.
I do not premix...but doing so definitely doesnt hurt to get things fine tuned.
I would not wait a month to do a h2o change. More like a couple weeks. I do monthly changes on a 125g tank that has less than 10" of fish in it, but those changes will become bigger and more frequent as the fish do.
There is no "cure-all" regimine for fish keeping. Water testing and changes are the only way you can find a balance that works for you and your tank.
obviously u cycled the tank before u added inverts. you shouldve done a 50% water change before any fish or inverts were added to the tank.
after that unless u have a lot of corals, change water as needed or 10% a month min. i do a 10% water change twice a month. my nitrate is always below 5ppm.
personally i wouldnt wait until nitrate hits 30ppm to do a water change. i dont like to see over 15.
your nitrate must be high unless u are running an algae scrubber or refugium.
what is your nitrate now???
after that unless u have a lot of corals, change water as needed or 10% a month min. i do a 10% water change twice a month. my nitrate is always below 5ppm.
personally i wouldnt wait until nitrate hits 30ppm to do a water change. i dont like to see over 15.
your nitrate must be high unless u are running an algae scrubber or refugium.
what is your nitrate now???